Separation Anxiety
Good Morning Girls! I spent many hours of my summer caught up in mental warfare. Sometimes with the enemy, sometimes with myself. I had to filter through a lot of religious thinking. In doing so I sometimes went into the other ditch and took on a spirit of rebellion. I had thoughts like "well, if that's the way God sees things, then I don't know if that's the God I want to serve". Ouch! It is painful to even write it. And I'm sure from the outside looking in, if you have never been in this place I am speaking from, you are gasping and saying "oh my.....if I were her I would not admit that."
Well, it all goes back to the title of my website: What Real Women Do.........and Girls, I believe in my heart, real women struggle. We struggle with doubt, insecurity, temptation, martyrdom, jealousy, selfishness, pettiness, the list goes on and on. They often sneak up on us. Things we thought we have already dealt with resurface years later- and there we are stuck like a deer in the headlights, afraid, thinking "I can't tell anyone I feel this way. They will think I am backslidden. They will remove me from my position. They will look at me different. They will no longer think I am a woman of God. They will not like me anymore." And it's true. You do run the risk of being criticized. You do open yourself up to someone saying "Oh, I thought you knew better than that." You do stand the chance of losing a so called friend or two. You do risk having God pull away from you, shaking his head and saying "well, we had a nice run. I really thought she was going to make it. Hey Pete, go ahead and cross her off the list. Good thing we wrote her name in the book in pencil. I had a feeling about her...."
Stop right there! That's just crazy talk! Now, I overdid it a little to prove a point, but how many times have you had a "negative thought" about your faith and later felt guilty because the devil whispered, "now God knows you are a phony. He knows you don't really believe he will take care of you. He is angry with you and is not going to help you now. You might as well do what you feel like doing. You've already blown it." Does that sound a little more realistic? Have you ever experienced that?
There were days when I would lose faith. I would get caught up in the fear of "what if's" and "what thens". I would try to figure out what we would do in every possible scenario. In the end the only thing I accomplished was feeling depressed and isolated. Now there were times when the devil told me I had blown it. In fact, I would lay in bed at night and think "I am no longer fit to lead. How do I tell Renee." But God's Word has freed me from that lie, just as it always does. Today's verse is not new, but the words that ministered to my heart are different from what I've focused on in the past.
The next time the devil tries to tell you that your lack of faith has made God turn his back on you, remind him, and yourself, of what God says about those days when you get caught up in fear and worry.
Romans 8:38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.
Love you all-
Jen
Well, it all goes back to the title of my website: What Real Women Do.........and Girls, I believe in my heart, real women struggle. We struggle with doubt, insecurity, temptation, martyrdom, jealousy, selfishness, pettiness, the list goes on and on. They often sneak up on us. Things we thought we have already dealt with resurface years later- and there we are stuck like a deer in the headlights, afraid, thinking "I can't tell anyone I feel this way. They will think I am backslidden. They will remove me from my position. They will look at me different. They will no longer think I am a woman of God. They will not like me anymore." And it's true. You do run the risk of being criticized. You do open yourself up to someone saying "Oh, I thought you knew better than that." You do stand the chance of losing a so called friend or two. You do risk having God pull away from you, shaking his head and saying "well, we had a nice run. I really thought she was going to make it. Hey Pete, go ahead and cross her off the list. Good thing we wrote her name in the book in pencil. I had a feeling about her...."
Stop right there! That's just crazy talk! Now, I overdid it a little to prove a point, but how many times have you had a "negative thought" about your faith and later felt guilty because the devil whispered, "now God knows you are a phony. He knows you don't really believe he will take care of you. He is angry with you and is not going to help you now. You might as well do what you feel like doing. You've already blown it." Does that sound a little more realistic? Have you ever experienced that?
There were days when I would lose faith. I would get caught up in the fear of "what if's" and "what thens". I would try to figure out what we would do in every possible scenario. In the end the only thing I accomplished was feeling depressed and isolated. Now there were times when the devil told me I had blown it. In fact, I would lay in bed at night and think "I am no longer fit to lead. How do I tell Renee." But God's Word has freed me from that lie, just as it always does. Today's verse is not new, but the words that ministered to my heart are different from what I've focused on in the past.
The next time the devil tries to tell you that your lack of faith has made God turn his back on you, remind him, and yourself, of what God says about those days when you get caught up in fear and worry.
Romans 8:38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.
Love you all-
Jen
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